US lawmakers demand congressional vote to halt Iran war

Several US lawmakers came out against the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday, demanding an immediate congressional vote to stop an "illegal war" launched without proper authorization.

New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim said US President Donald Trump had repeated the mistakes of the Iraq War era.

"He put Americans in harm's way without clearly showing there's an imminent threat to our national security," Kim said, warning that Trump had "started a cycle of violence that has already escalated and could spiral out of control."

He called on the Senate to vote immediately on Sen. Tim Kaine's War Powers Resolution.

California Rep. Ro Khanna went further, calling the strikes "an illegal regime change war in Iran with American lives at risk" and demanding Congress convene Monday to vote on a War Powers Resolution he co-introduced with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. "Every member of Congress should go on record this weekend on how they will vote," he said.

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego drew on personal experience, saying he had lost friends in Iraq. "Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn't been explained or justified to the American people," he said, adding US can support the Iranian people "without sending our troops to die."

Texas Rep. Greg Casar echoed those concerns, saying Trump was "sending other people's kids to risk their lives in a senseless regime change war" and warned the US would "lose lives, spend billions, and end up dragged into decades of instability."

The calls follow Rep. Gregory Meeks' announcement Thursday of plans to force a vote on a bipartisan resolution requiring congressional approval before any military strikes on Iran. The Khanna-Massie resolution would compel Trump to seek such authorization before using force against Iran.